Fiction With a Dark Side

A Necklace of Rubies- A Mini Review

I’m stunned. Truly. I always am by short story/novella/novelette writers. And this story was no different, it left me questioning one thing and one thing only:

How did she DO that??

How did she tell a full engaging story in only 40 pages? How did she accomplish so much in so little? It just boggles my mind. And inspires the hell out of me. *g*

A Necklace of Rubies by Cindy Lynn Speer is a retelling of the Bluebeard myth. A myth I had not previously known about and now find horribly fascinating, which I do believe is the whole point. The story is beautifully told but doesn’t shy away from the raw, dark, instinctual side that makes the myth so interesting. More so, I felt the author placed a few very cool twists in the tale.

What’s odd is that I realized that you only learn the protagonist’s name once, (The book is told in first person) and it’s about, what I would consider, near midway that you do. Yet I wasn’t bothered by it at all. Tessa had me so fully engaged that I never stopped to consider what her name was and it wasn’t until it was spoken that I realized it had never been before. I think that would be a testament to Miss Speer’s work, because I know that is something that might have bothered me in another book had the protagonist not been so very charming in her way.

Wonderful story. Finding new authors to fan-girl always makes me giddy, so as you can gather I’m in a fairly good mood and I can’t wait to dive into her other, longer title, The Chocolatier’s Wife now.

To read the excerpt for A Necklace of Rubies, you can go here to Drollerie and check it out. To learn more about Miss Speer and her work, you can go to her blog, which I will now be adding to my blogroll cause I want to keep an eye out for her work. 😀 Happy reading all!

I’ve read the online excerpt of The Chocolatier’s Wife and LOVED it… so I bought it, but STILL haven’t managed to get it onto my phone so I can read it. ! I know, I know — what is wrong with me!? Anyway, thanks for the reminder that I have it and should read it pronto and probably buy everything else by Cindy Lynn Speer! 😀